Escobar pitches PawSox to Game 1 win

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The table was set nicely for Game 1 in a rematch of last year's Governors' Cup Finals, with both teams featuring some of their organizations' best pitching prospects.

In the end, it was No. 9 Red Sox prospect Edwin Escobar who far outlasted Rays' No. 6 prospect Enny Romero, going seven strong innings to pace Pawtucket to a 3-2 victory over Durham on Tuesday night at McCoy Stadium.

"He was getting ahead in the count," said PawSox catcher Blake Swihart, Boston's No. 3 prospect. "He was throwing strikes with his fastball. Once you establish that fastball, it allows us to go from there."

Working off that fastball, Escobar struck out five and didn't allow a walk over seven innings. He gave up two runs on six hits to earn his first win since joining Pawtucket at the trade deadline.

"I focus to get my first pitch a strike," the southpaw said. "Attack the batter, attack the strike zone and that worked for me."

Pawtucket got out to an early two-run lead with runs in the first and second off singles by No. 19 Red Sox prospect Travis Shaw and No. 11 Deven Marrero.

The Bulls evened things up in the top of the third on the heels of three singles, the key one plating two off No. 11 Rays prospect Mikie Mahtook's bat with two outs.

It didn't take long for the PawSox to return the volley, but it did take a while for the go-ahead run to finally come around.

With runners at the corners, Boston's No. 4 prospect Garin Cecchini worked an 11-pitch at-bat, fouling off four straight Romero offerings before sending a long fly ball out to center field that was deep enough to score Ryan Lavarnway on a sacrifice.

"[Romero is a] tough pitcher," Cecchini said. "Throwing high-90s. We faced him twice already [during the regular season] and kind of knew what he had. I was just trying to stay alive. He gave me a pitch that I thought I could take a good swing on and hit it well to left field, did my job and got the run in."

The PawSox ran Romero from the game after only three innings of work, but Doug Mathis and Cory Burns kept the hosts from adding to their lead. The relievers combined on five scoreless innings in which they allowed just a hit and a walk while striking out eight.

With the bullpen keeping them in the game, the Bulls tried to rally in the ninth off Pawtucket's Heath Hembree.

Durham loaded the bases with one out, but the right-hander blew three pitches past Justin Christian and then got Cole Figueroa to ground out to first baseman Travis Shaw to end the game and give Pawtucket a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.

"[Hembree] came through big," Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles said. "Pretty impressive. Bases loaded with one out, a tight situation for him, but he had good pitches and it looks like he kept his composure pretty well."

Wednesday night's Game 2 will again feature two of the organization's Top 10 prospects, with Durham giving Rays' No. 5 prospect Alex Colome the ball while Pawtucket turns to No. 10 Red Sox prospect Brian Johnson for his Triple-A debut.